THERE will be no more Sunday brunches at the Colbar for residents of Portsdown Road estate. The 50-year-old neighbourhood hangout and two adjoining shops will be torn down to make way for a new road linking Queensway to the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

A favourite hangout in the neighbourhood. Colbar sits in the way of a planned new road that links Queensway and the AYE. Two other shops also have to go. -- ERNEST GOH

Aside from the three shops, the Gloucester Archery Range and Field, and the Temasek Club's driving range will also have to go.

Residents of the estate, known affectionately as 'little Bohemia', say the road will destroy the lush, green and tranquil ambience of the area.

The shopkeepers on Jalan Hang Jebat, off Portsdown Road, were told last month that they have to leave by July 1. They said that while they knew they would have to go eventually, they are upset by the short notice to vacate.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) confirmed that the road project links Queensway to AYE, but its spokesman said it could not give more details because they were still being finalised.

Work on the project started in November. A stretch of Portsdown Road is closed and the archery field now houses the site office for the project. Construction work is visible on the field.

A spokesman for Koon Construction, Mr Foo Tee Teck, said the company is building Phase One of the road project: A flyover that starts at Normanton Park, goes over the AYE and ends at the archery field in Portsdown Road, in front of Colbar.

Work is expected to take 2 1/2 years. It is understood that in Phase Two, the flyover will continue from Portsdown Road to Queensway, but no other details were available.

The fate of Portsdown Road, which comprises 24 walk-up blocks built during colonial times, has been uncertain for some time now, due to the massive project to build the city-within-a-city research and development centre called One North, in nearby Buona Vista.

New leases for the rental apartments at Portsdown stretch only until March next year.

Although the new flyover will be located on the fringes of the estate, residents say its atmosphere will be destroyed.

The estate is set on hilly terrain and is filled with scores of old raintrees, angsana trees and coconut palms.

'This is Bohemia town. There are artists, a hypnotherapist, people into meditation - not the usual HDB people,' said Mrs S.F. Lim, 37, a housewife living on Jalan Hang Jebat.

'Living here is like living in the middle of Botanic Gardens. It's very green, very therapeutic and there's no need to take a holiday to get away from the urban jungle. And now, an expressway?'

Said another resident, Mr Pierre Pourville, a 44-year-old author, living a few houses from Mrs Lim: 'There's a complete eco-system here. You can see monkeys, snakes and squirrels and so many different types of birds.'

At least three of his neighbours have moved out and he is thinking of doing the same.

As for the Temasek Club, which has no plans for now to replace the driving range, its general manager was the only one to have something positive to say about the new road.

'It will make the club more accessible for members,' he told The Straits Times.

But for two of the shopkeepers, who have been doing business in the area for 50 years, it is the end of the road.

Mr Lim Yoke Hwee, who runs Ah Sun Tailor, said: 'We knew something was happening, but the notice to evict is so short and there's no compensation given.'

The Singapore Land Authority said the shopkeepers are not entitled to compensation as they do not own the properties, which are let out to them on a month-to-month temporary occupation licence.

The licence clearly states that they are not eligible to any compensation if it is not renewed; while such occupants are usually given one month's notice to vacate, these shopkeepers were given about six.

Artist Terence Yeung said: 'It's a shame... Colbar exemplifies the Portsdown environment.'

Colbar's owner, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Lim, said: 'Leaving this place is like being separated from my friends. This place is like my home.'